By Shaun Carpenter                                                           

Which assessment tools would you recommend using in a hiring process?

The use of psychological testing or assessment can be extremely valuable as a touch point when conducting a search, especially if the role is on the executive leadership team as poor hiring decisions can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in rehiring, retraining, severance pay and most importantly, lost revenue.  It’s no surprise that hiring officials are looking for some science to complement the art of finding the ideal individual for their organization. 

The real challenge is trying to make sense of all the options available and choosing tools that can be relied on. How do you assess the assessments? Joe Schmidt, Ph.D., from Hay Group points out that, “…the key component to any assessment process is to know what you’re assessing for.” A detailed executive profile can assist and this type of document should not be one dimensional like a job description that is written by one person. Input from a wide array of stakeholders should be solicited before the search begins so the candidate requirements can be thorough and well-informed.

Just like most things in life, the quick and easy option may not be the best. There is a myriad of personality tests on the market which don’t require a Masters degree or even a Bachelors degree to administer and interpret. These may be helpful to get a broad feeling for how a team member might work with others but I wouldn’t put much stock in them beyond that.  Most of these tests can be completed by a candidate online in 15 minutes, resulting in an automatic report being spit out. Reading the results may remind you of reading a horoscope.

If you would like to manage the assessment process internally, a recommendation is to choose a few tools that have a very large normative database, and a high level of reliability and predictability. The Hogan Assessment website includes a list of questions to consider when evaluating different options available. The last few are interesting; decisions made by using assessment tools can be legally challenged so you don’t want to mess around. Besides personality you may want to consider a critical-thinking measure to assess a candidate’s ability to make logical inferences and abstractions and maybe a managerial in-box simulation.

If this all sounds pretty confusing, it is!  Remember, scientists have been trying to predict behavior for ages. The first psychological test was commercialized back in 1921 and Sigmund Freud had been working on personality theory way before that. If you are managing a very important recruitment, I would suggest partnering with an expert in the field of psychology who has the credentials, knowledge and professional wisdom to understand your organization’s needs; someone who can compile a number of proven tests in a portfolio which is unique to the position you are looking to fill which can assist in improving the predictability of a successful hire.

Have a question for the headhunter? Contact Shaun at shaun@pfmsearch.com.

Shaun Carpenter is associate partner with Pinton Forrest & Madden Executive Search. He has worked in the executive search business for 12 years and is well respected in the industry for his aptitude in candidate development and client relations. He received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calgary, which included studies abroad at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. Shaun is also currently an active member of BC HRMA’s Coastal Vancouver Advisory Council.